November 2012 – December 2013

Join Students For Liberty at the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, CA on Saturday, November 3 for the 2012 Students For Liberty Northern California Regional Conference. Berkeley is home to one of the strongest pro-liberty student groups in the country and the UC Berkeley Students For Liberty are proud to welcome students from across California to the home of the free speech movement for one incredible event celebrating liberty.

Several members of the seasteading community recently launched an Indiegogo campaign to support the Voice & Exit event in Austin, TX, to be held on Saturday, March 9, 2013 (in parallel with the SXSW interactive conference). The event is designed to bring people together in celebration of big ideas, social entrepreneurship and radical community formation. Speakers will include Max Marty, CEO of the seasteading startup Blueseed, along with Institute board member Michael Strong, Reason Magazine Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, and many more. Each of the speakers will highlight a different vision for using innovative social technologies and persuasion, rather than coercive institutions, to move toward more collaborative communities.

We know that people are individuals with unique visions to share. But forming community means finding common values. Within a diverse range of communities, individuals will be able to seek out environments they believe best contribute to their thriving. In a world with so many different possible forms of association, everyone will need both the right to voice her opinion and the right to exit if a community isn’t working for her. So we ask: What if humanity placed higher value on the rights of voice and exit? What would the world look like? We think it would be a world of continuous innovation – a world in which people “criticize by creating.” This is what Voice & Exit is all about.

Those who are interested can contribute to the inaugural event, or contact the campaign organizers at voiceandexit@gmail.com.

Ephemerisle is a floating celebration of community, learning, art and seasteading.

We construct a floating city on the Sacramento River Delta and live on it for five days. Ephemerisle has elements of Burning Man in the early 1990s: a new adventure into an alien environment, with discoveries, adventures, and mishaps along the way.

There are no tickets, no central organizers, and no rangers to keep you safe.

While the Institute does not formally endorse political candidates, we are glad to provide Gabriel with a platform to draw much-needed attention to future technology and its impact on society. Born on the 100th anniversary of the man who invented the orbit-breaking rocket, and pioneered GPS and satellite communication, Gabriel had a childhood dream to be the first mayor of an orbital colony. For him, the closest realization of that dream today is becoming the Representative from the Space Coast. In a time when politicians are becoming increasingly short-sided, we see wisdom in Gabriel’s plan to restore government as an investor in science and technology. His education agenda is based on the recognition that our current system is producing false expectations and a mismatch with the real-world economy, and that young people must be equipped with skills for jobs that may not exist yet.

Gabriel has experienced multiple systems of education, from home schooling to military academies. He has worked in industries ranging from factories to franchising. Gabriel has also maintained a marriage for over a decade, and has four kids. Supporting his family on a single income in a tough economy, Gabriel knows from personal experience what it takes to achieve the American dream in the new millennium.

“Seasteading, transhumanism, human longevity and the singularity are not concepts the general public are ready to comprehend. My presence in the political arena will force a discussion on these matters, and I have decided that I would rather loose and allow them better acknowledgement, than win by distancing myself. That being said I fully intend to win this election. By expressing my passionate understanding of the intended path of space colonization (which includes seasteading as a necessary precursor), I can swing enough points to push Bill Posey from office.” – Gabriel Rothblatt, July 2013

The Seasteading Institute will provide light fare, coffee, tea, and mimosas, plus plates, cups, and utensils. We encourage attendees to bring a dish to share.

The Institute will give a brief update on its progress with The Floating City Project. We will share the latest seastead concept, along with insights about the market for residential seasteads, and the prospects for finding a suitable location in a host nation’s territorial waters to develop the first seastead by the end of the decade.

Ephemerislers are invited to share success (and failure) stories of the growing festival, and inspire novel ideas for 2014.